Improvement in clamps for stretching card-clothing upon carding-cylinders



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSHUA o. LHwiS, orl WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLAMPS FOR STRETCHING CARDCLOTH|NG UPONCARDlNG-CYLINDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 47,2 l0, dated April 11, 1865.

of the construction and operation of the saine,

reference being hadA to the accompanying drawing, in which- The figure represents a perspective View of said card-clothing clamp.

The clamps heretofore used for drawing and stretching cardclothing upon the cardcylinder preparatory to securing the cloth to it have been made in the forni of pliers with laterally-projecting jaws, so as to seize a sufficient width of the cardeclothng in stretching the sam e. Vith the pliers constructed in that manner there has always been great liability of springing at the ends of' the clampjaws, thus occasioning slack placesin the card-cloth ing after it had been used a short time and rendering the operation of the card imperfect and irregular.

The object of my invention is to obviate these diifculties,and I effect this by constructing my clamp in such a manner that the ends Vof its jaws are Supported by forked braces,

which at the same time serve as the clamp arms or levers through which the rod or pin passes, by which the two parts of the clamp are pivoted together.

In the accompanying drawing, A and B represent the jaws of my clamp. From the clamp A extend the forked braces C, and from the clamp BV the forked braces D. In each of the jaws their forked braces extend to near their ends, so as to prevent any springing' of the same, and consequently the entire face of the` jaw when properly applied will bite the card-clothing, and the latter can thus be stretched uniformly by the application of this clamp. The forked braces D are fitted within the braces C, and the pivot or` pin E is passed 'through them, and thus serves `as a pivot on which the clamp-jaws are turned.` The ends of the forked braces` O D are formed with loops G, or in such a manner that a strap, H,

can be passed through them, and the lower end of the strapis secured to a treadle orfoot.A

lever, by means of which the clamp'arms are not only forced together, but are also forced downward forthe purpose of stretching thc card-clothing preparatory tonailing it down upon the cylinder.

In applying the card-clothing tothe carding-cylinder, it is nailed `down in strips longi` i 3 tudinall y upon said cylinder, or parallelwith the axis of the same, and one edge of the cloth-4 ing having been fastened, the clamp isap-` y plied, in the manner above described,to the loose edge thereof for the purpose 0f stretch-L ing the clothing preparatory to nailing it down upon the cylinder, and itis edentthatit is"` of great importance that the tension of the` clothing'should be uniform throughout.`

In heavy clothing great force isapplied iu stretching it, and as no part ot" my clamp can"` spring or yield itis evident thata uniform i tension is'obtained when the work is performed with ordinary care.

The looped ends G are `well adapted to receive an operatiugstrap,whereb the use of bolts, screws, or other means of attachment `of the strap to the clamp are obviated, male` ing the article simple and effectivewith no parts liable to be lost or mislaid.

Having thus fully described the nature of my invention7 what I `claim herein as new,A and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isy As anew article of manufacture, a cardclothing clamp constructed with forked braces y to sustain and strengthen the ends of the clam py jaws so that they cannot spring or yield, and with looped ends for the operating-strap, all substantially as and `for the purposes described.

u JOSHUA O. LEWIS. Witnesses: y A y i H. L. FULLER, J. HENRY HILL. 

